A deciduous shrub 6 ft or more high; young shoots angular, with very minute appressed hairs at first, becoming glabrous. Leaves narrowly oval; tapering about equally towards both ends; 11⁄2 to 4 in. long, 1⁄2 to 13⁄4 in. wide with two or three pairs of prominent longitudinal veins, both surfaces covered with minute appressed hairs. Flowers white, 1⁄3 in. across, produced in rounded hairy corymbs 21⁄2 to 31⁄2 in. across. Fruits black, globose, 1⁄4 in. wide. The most distinctive character of this species is the narrow shape and few veins of its firm-textured leaves. The chief veins originate in pairs from the lower part of the midrib, and after curving outwards bend inwards again towards the top of the leaf. The shrub is pretty, and useful in flowering in late July and August. Bot. Mag., t. 9197.
Native of W. and Central China; introduced by Wilson in 1907. It first flowered with the late Hon. Vicary Gibbs at Aldenham, in 1911.